When people were struggling to cope up with the pandemic, artist Abhishek Narayan Verma used the first lockdown as an opportunity to create art. The artist’s love for art dates back to his childhood days. In fact, in 11th and 12th standard, he either wanted to become an artist or a volleyball player. But convincing his parents to pursue art wasn’t easy, as they considered practicing art as a taboo. We spoke to the artist to learn how he fell in love with art and his latest show. Excerpts of the interview… At what age did you start your journey in art and how it all started? My journey started in a small village in Bihar when I was 14-15 years old. Before that, I remember I used to copy signboard painters and images of gods and goddesses to imitate them at my home. Practicing art was almost a taboo in my family. I faced too many ups and downs. But when I got selected in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (a residential school run by the Ministry of HRD) and was lucky to have good teachers in every accord. I met my art teacher, who was also a national awardee. He inspired me and fuelled zeal in me to get into visual arts. I acquired first-hand knowledge from him. After completing my senior school, with science as my major subject, it was really hard to convince my parents and relatives about pursuing art as a career. During that time, I came to know about the entrance exam of the College of Art in New Delhi. I secretly left for Delhi. I stayed with my friends and qualified for the entrance exam. That’s how my journey as an art practitioner began. Currently, I am based in Baroda, and am dedicating my time in creating art. In which medium did you start working? While pursuing my Bachelor’s degree, I started working majorly in watercolours and oil. It was later (when I did Masters), I explored printmaking where I worked majorly with lithography. Do you still work in the same mediums or have you transitioned to a different one? After finishing college, it was hard to continue with printmaking as resources are not easily available. So, whenever I get a chance, I work with lithography. I would say there is nothing like a drastic shift in terms of selecting mediums. Have you studied art? I completed Masters in Visual Arts (in printmaking) from the Faculty of Fine Arts (Gold Medalist), the MS University of Baroda, Gujarat in 2015. I studied Bachelor of Fine Arts (in painting) from College of Art, New Delhi in 2012. While pursuing my Bachelor’s degree, I studied painting, drawing, composition, history of art, methods and materials and aesthetics. In my Masters programme, the major subjects were printmaking, philosophy of art, modern art and the history of printmaking. It is said artists reveal a story in their art. What is it that you try to depict through your artworks? I believe, to start a dialogue, we need a story. So, for me making images is a kind of dialogue that encompass varied situations and surroundings. The narrative quality makes me connected to image making. This drama yields a story like quality but does not fully qualify as narrative. The works revolve around the ideas of dysfunctional power relationships or dysfunctionality, socio–political conditioning, memory recall and fabrication, personal insecurities arising out of one’s circumstances and anxiety. I try to transmute them in my works through satire, while making use of popular idioms, myths and stories. The irony is a provocation of thoughts that uses humour to portray struggles and mistakes. Tell us about your first exhibition? How have you grown since then? My first solo exhibition was in 2016. Titled as Diary of an Idler, it was hosted at the Faculty of Fine Arts, the MS University of Baroda. It was a very important moment in my life. It was a part of an award that I had received after completing my Master’s degree. It was a great way to judge my capabilities, specially, as I had freshly graduated from the college and was trying to enter in the world of art. The show became successful. It also gave me strength and a strong reason to stay in this field and to contribute my creativity. I think those accolades are still with me. They help me to grow as a person and improve my working style. What is your recent art show about? How many pieces are on display? My recent art show is titled The Moon Bearer - A New Saga. The artworks featured in this show are a part of an ongoing show at Anant Art Gallery that will be on display till 16 October 2021. I had created these pieces during the first lockdown. Later, I added a few more artworks to this series. In total, there are 18 pieces of art. Out of which, 14 are on the display. For me, black moon is a symbol of dark times and the protagonist is trying to keep himself busy while finding the balance and playfulness. While recollecting memories from my childhood, childhood stories, folklore and fantasies related to the moon inspired me to think and create the entire composition in a playful manner. I have used a few of these symbolisms to depict the various dysfunctional and absurd elements. What are the mediums used in these artworks? These are Gouache and Tea Toning on paper. How is your recent show different from the rest? This exhibition is a virtual one. This means it can be accessed globally though we are hit by the pandemic. A virtual show is the best way to reach out to the masses and show your creativity. I personally feel that one-to-one interactions are very important to understand and appreciate the art and its processes. Without being in a physical space, it is difficult to understand the psychology of the space and the journey of an art work. You miss the sensory experiences in the virtual format. Since it is a virtual show, explain the relationship that you have tried to create between moon and humans? The moon is a celestial body. It has always played a significant role in astrology and in functions of various religious systems or beliefs across India. It defines the different personas of human beings and also how different stages of the eclipse (either solar or lunar) affect those personas/behavioural changes. Each and every human on this earth was affected one way or the other due to this pandemic and the lockdown. While spending nights sitting on the terrace watching the moon for hours and feeling the deep silent darkness on the earth, I was unable to appreciate that beauty of the moon. So, I decided to depict it through the black colour. This reflects the dark times and a moment of solidarity with the humans, where everyone was trying to find the balance and equilibrium while living in this tough times. What are you working on next? I am currently working on a set of paintings, which is based on my stay in Vienna (during 2020-2021) and experiencing winter season there. Through my works, I am trying to find a connection between world’s fascination and the overwhelming situations. These works are done on gouache on paper and are variable in size. I hope you get to see those in India Art Fair 2022 with Anant Art Gallery.

Anubhav 3 will showcase works of several Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and national, as well as state awardees between 9-15 October 2021 online. Nearly 38 craft artists, 50 dancers, 44 musicians and more than 25 folk artists are set to come together to perform in an event titled Anubhav 3. Hosted by the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY), the week-long show will feature sessions on Carnatic and Hindustani classical music, classical dance forms, folk music and dance, traditional paintings and theatre. Audiences will be able to stream these programmes while sitting in the comfort of their homes on SPIC MACAY’s YouTube channel. The event will see participation from 15,000 students from India, the UAE (Abu Dhabi and Dubai), Japan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, North Korea, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Students will pay an ode to India's 75th year of independence. Some of the workshops will begin as early as 4 a.m. These include an hour session each on Naad and Hatha yoga. Gurbani will also be streamed live from Shri Harmandir Sahib, Amritsar between 6:30-7:00 am. Besides this, audiences will be able to participate in interactive sessions and concerts hosted by Indian classical music and dance maestros. Classic films will also be streamed. Besides this, audiences will be informed about India’s rich art culture. Nearly 38 master craft persons will share their knowledge and skills with students in traditional paintings. Among them are two Padma Shri awardees, namely, Shakir Ali from Jaipur School of miniature paintings and Bulu Imam, creator of Hazaribagh Cultural Trust. Explaining about the agenda, Manjari Sinha, says, “This is not just a painting workshop but we are looking at it as sharing of knowledge about India’s different art forms and the stories attached to them. We were initially thinking of starting 12 workshops but different institutions shared immense interest towards this convention. That is why we will conduct 38 workshops.” Some of the participating artists include renowned dancer Anwesa Mahanta, Kuchipudi dancer Vyjayanthi Kashi, Padma Shri awardee and Odissi dancer Ranjana Gauhar, Mohiniyattam exponent Dr Neena Prasad, Bharatnatyam dancer Vannadil Pudiyaveettil Dhananjayan, and Kuchipudi dancer Bhavana Reddy, to name a few. Other artists to showcase their art forms are Padma Vibhushan awardee Sangita Kalanidhi and Vidwan Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman and Padma Bhushan awardees Vidwan TV Sankaranarayanan, Begum Parween Sultana, Dr L Subramaniam and Vidushi Sudha Ragunathan. The last day of the event will feature students' performances in art, dance, music and folk forms. Virtual heritage walks, museum tours and a western classical music concert will also be conducted before drawing the curtains.

Celebrate International Vodka Day and kick off your Monday blues. Here's a look at some of the cocktails that you can try using a few ingredients... Polska Mary Ingredients 45 ml – Belvedere vodka 20 ml – Tomato juice 20 ml – Passata 20 ml – Beetroot juice (optional) 10 ml – Lemon juice (optional) 10 ml – Worcestershire sauce Three dashes of tabasco A pinch of celery salt A lemon wedge Method Add all the ingredients to a highball glass and fill it with ice. Stir the ingredients well. Garnish them with a lemon wedge. Pomme Highball Ingredients 45 ml – Vodka 60 ml – Pressed apple juice 20 ml – Lime juice 10 ml – Sugar syrup 2 Turmeric-dusted cucumber slices Soda water Method Add all the ingredients to a highball glass and fill it with ice. Stir it well to combine all the ingredients. Top the mix with soda water. Garnish with two turmeric-dusted cucumber slices. Vodka cranberry cocktail Ingredients 59 ml – Vodka 59 ml – Cranberry juice 1/2 – Lime juice Soda water 3-4 – Mint leaves Method Add ice cubes and vodka in a glass. Pour cranberry and lime juice in it. Top it off with soda water. Garnish it with mint leaves. Old Town Fizz Ingredients 40 ml – Belvedere vodka 15 ml – Sparkling wine 20 ml – Lime 15 ml – Honey water (2:1) 6-8 – Mint leaves A dash of angostura Lime wheel Method Add ingredients to a shaker. Shake and fine strain them so there are no mint leaves in a coupe. Top it up with 15 ml of sparkling wine and garnish the drink with a lime wheel.

People always take things for granted and ignore natural beauty. These artists have noticed beauty in mundane things and are presenting them in their artworks. Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder. People living in cities often ignore natural beauty in things around them due to their busy lives. Five young artists have come together to remind people to notice beautiful things in mundane surroundings in an art exhibition titled ‘Citing Beauty – Reimagining the Mundane’. The show, taking place at Exhibit 320 in Lado Sarai, New Delhi, displays works of Suryakanta Swain, Sonali Sonam, Khageswar Rout, Nayanjyoti Barman and Pappu Bardhan. Describing the theme of the exhibition, Rahul Kumar, the curator, says, “It is not about creating beauty but citing it as it exists with things that are not so beautiful like concrete structures and other man-made things. All artists have looked at their respective environments, whether urban or where they grew up, and have sieved through them and found beauty.” The artists have used simple ideas and connected them with traditional techniques. For instance, Swain has taken inspiration from the ideas of co-existing and diverse cultures of hyperactive city lives. His works showcase rubbles, rocks and pieces of cement and concrete. He has shown detailed and delicate lines in rocks to familiarise their natural beautify. These lines are represented through the traditional weaving technique that pertains to his village. He has added embellishment to his mundane looking rocks and their shadows. Sonam’s artworks in miniature-style represent urban landscape without any concrete structures, such as buildings and roads, as well as other man-made things. She has tried to capture the attention of visitors towards natural beauty. Bardhan has depicted nuisances from his past in his artworks. The artist has considered large images of jackfruits and papayas as enclosed forms just like a protective womb. The artist has taken references from the rural area where he grew up and has portrayed its natural beauty on paper. Kumar describes Bardhan’s artwork as organic and detailed. “The human figures in his work depict scenes of Mumbai local and Delhi Metro primetime scene. What’s funny is that we call Mumbai local and Metro as lifelines. But forests are our true lifelines, which we are destroying to build rail tracks. So, there is an irony, as one lifeline (train tracks) is killing another (trees and plants),” he adds. Similarly, Barman’s works also relate to his past. The Bengal-based artist has made a composition of a collapsed building out of discarded cardboards (used as packaging material) and jute. He has added white paper to depict doors and windows of the building. This technique has been lifted from the way pandals are decorated for Durga Puja and evokes nostalgia. Rout's sculpture in terracotta represents the inside of a vegetable or a fruit. The artist has used vegetation and vegetable forms to create structures. He also referred to science and geometry and studied them to recreate these pieces in an abstract way. The show is open to public till 16 October from 11 am to 6:30 pm.

Indian companies are embedding seeds into crackers, flags, bombs, Ganesha idols and stationery products for a greener tomorrow. Imagine sowing a cracker, rakhi, pencil or Ganesha idol in the soil and watching them bloom into plants. As surreal as it sounds, this is possible with seed paper. Several companies are using it to manufacture products. Seed paper can be sown in half an inch of soil and can grow as a plant. Saurabh Mehta owns one such firm. He was initially working in a sustainable company but in 2018, he returned to Delhi to join his family business, a polythene manufacturing company. Though he was his own boss, he could not connect with his work. That’s how he started looking for eco-friendly alternates for plastic polythene. He tried to remove and minimise the use of plastic-based stationery in pens and pencils using recycled or waste paper. Though his plan worked, he wasn’t fully satisfied. “I realised that some parts of the products were still being thrown away like used pens and small pencils,” he says. This led him to further conceptualise the idea of making products that come with an afterlife. That’s how he started embedding seeds into paper to make pens and pencils, calendars, notebooks and rakhis. As a Founder and CEO of BioQ, Saurabh altered from ‘use and throw’ to ‘use and grow’. BioQ works with 15 varieties of seeds, including basil, tomato, marigold and mustard. These seeds come in the form of capsules, which are pushed inside these pens. “They work in the same manner as medicines work. They are easy to plant. They get dissolved in the soil within an hour and need only some moisture to bloom them into a plant,” he shares. BioQ isn’t the only company that believes in minimising waste and reusing it for a sustainable tomorrow. The growing interest of customers towards sustainable products and consciousness have made seed paper a rage. Garima Capoor Nanda was also looking for eco-friendly wedding cards for her wedding in 2016 but she could not find any attractive alternatives. So, she got the paper customised for her wedding. She got seeds added in cotton scrap paper as it is wood-free. She then circulated these cards with her friends and relatives. To her surprise, the response she received was overwhelming. This led her to develop the idea of using seeded paper to make other things. Today, her company, Plantables, co-founded with her husband, Sumat Nanda, makes several products using seed paper. This Agra-based brand specialises in gift kits, mandala colouring books, calendars, notebooks, stationery items and message cards for other brands, among other things. It also sells wedding cards in more than 15 languages. Like Garima, Roshan Ray was also looking for similar alternatives for wedding cards. But he also wanted to save the dying handmade paper industry. Ray was a handmade paper manufacturer till 2014. He realised that the only way to revive the industry and work towards sustainability was to add seeds to handmade paper. In November 2014, he founded Seed Paper India. Roshan too used seed paper for wedding cards. But it was in 2016, he says, that seed paper got the recognition it deserved. “In 2016, when the government came heavily on the plastic bags, seed paper started coming in in India,” he says. Seed Paper India sells a variety of products, such as plantable crackers, flags, seed bombs and seed-embeded Ganesha, besides stationery items. Their plantable crackers are not like usual fireworks. While explaining the concept, Ray shares, “The best part about these crackers is that they are sown in soil instead of being burnt. We use different seeds for different crackers. For rockets, we put marigold seeds, for hydrogen bombs, we use tomato seeds and for flower pots, we use white daisies.” The company also manufactures a sustainable alternative on Ganesh Chaturthi. They make seeded Ganeshas. The company also sells seeded flags on Independence and Republic Day. “We use organic water-soluble colours in flags and they are chlorine free,” he shares. Though companies are trying to maximise the use of seed paper, working on this paper is not everyone’s cup of tea. Garima points out that handling the paper requires finesse. “Printing on this paper is technical in nature. Seeds need to be small and flat otherwise printing would not be possible. Generally, fruit seeds are bigger. That’s why we don’t use them. We work with marigold, mixed white flower, mixed vegetables chamomile and basil seeds. We also use water soluble colours and ink on the paper so that seeds are not harmed in any way,” she shares. Though printing may be technical, planting the seeded paper isn’t difficult. Roshan says that these seeds do not require any special attention after they are sown. “You need to tear the paper and soak it overnight for 24-48 hours before planting it in half an inch of soil with water. Within 4-6 weeks, the plant starts to germinate,” he says.

Randhir Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Rahul Mittra, Boman Irani, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Anurag Basu, Huma Qureshi, Gulshan Grover, Jaaved Jaafery, Kunal Kapoor, Jasbir Jassi and Ritu Berry, among others were honoured at the festival. The Tashkent International Film Festival (TIFF) 'The Silk Road Pearl' recently kicked off in Uzbekistan. The 13th edition of the festival hosts over 300 actors from around 50 countries. Several Indian celebrities, such as Randhir Kapoor, Mithun Chakraborty, Rahul Mittra, Boman Irani, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Rahul Rawail, Anurag Basu, Huma Qureshi, Gulshan Grover, Javed Jaffery, Sanjay Gupta, Neeraj Pathak, Deepak Tijori, Kunal Kapoor, Dino Morea, Jasbir Jassi and Ritu Berry, were honoured at the festival. Hosted by Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President, Uzbekistan, the theme of this year's edition is 'peace, enlightenment and progress'. Besides India, other countries to participate in the event include Italy, Russia, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Israel, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Poland, Tajikistan and Turkey, among others. Sanjay Gupta’s Mumbai Saga, Anurag Basu’s Ludo and Rahul Mittra’s Torbaaz, which were shot in Kyrgyzstan, will be screened at this festival. 'The Silk Road Pearl' is an innovative platform for the exchange of experience with international colleagues that promises to be the cultural breakthrough of the year. The festival will end on 3 Oct 2021.

The actor has been nominated for the Best Actor in the Asia Content Awards for playing Ipsit Nair in Ray. Bollywood actor Ali Fazal has bagged the nomination for Best Actor at the Asia Content Awards (ACA). The actor has been chosen for his role as Ipsit Nair in Forget Me Not, one of the four films in the Ray anthology on Netflix. The film, directed by Srijith Mukherji, showed Ali as a cut-throat corporate shark with a memory of a computer. Its story was a modern interpretation of Satyajit Ray’s story 'Bipin Chaudhary Ka Smriti Bhram.’ Soon after the announcement of the nominations, the actor said, “This was totally unexpected. I am so humbled to receive this nomination and it means a lot to be recognised by ACA. A lot of great content was produced this year in Asia and to land, a nomination amongst such an impressive lineup of films and actors is an honour.” This award this year is run by the Busan International Film Festival's Asian Contents & Film Market. This year, the nominations were dominated by Korean dramas and Netflix originals.

The festival aims to offer a unique experience with an expansive selection of popular dishes having originated from various cities on the GT Road. Ever imagined tasting authentic dishes from Chittagong, Kabul, Amritsar, Allahabad, Delhi, and Kolkata in Mumbai? Banjara Restaurant at Goldfinch Hotel, Mumbai has organised a feast for people to remember. In a one-of-a-kind fiesta called 'The Grand Trunk Road food festival', foodies can relish a range of delicacies from Chittagong, Kolkata and Kabul via Amritsar, Delhi and Allahabad. The Grand Trunk Road is one of Asia's oldest and longest highways spanning across 2,500 km. It runs through parts of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Therefore, the festival serves flavours and authentic dishes from these regions. There are street-style delicacies of Amritsar, such as sarson ka saag with makki de roti and Pindi chhole kulche, as well as the iconic tandoori chicken from Crystal Chowk and kunna gosht, the goodness of Pashtuni dishes. Besides this, Afghani dishes such as Kabuli palaw (the national dish of the country), qorma-e-gosht (lamb stew), Qqorma-e-lubia shaljam (kidney beans stew), chapli kebab (patty of lamb mince), bolani (stuffed thin crust bread), mantu (meat dumplings) and ashak (vegetable dumplings) served with tomato and yoghurt sauces can be enjoyed. Get the taste of Pakistani flavours in the form of Raan-e-Musallam, a spice-marinated lamb leg is slow-cooked overnight and Peshawari Charsi Murg Karahi, a speciality of Peshawar. Other irresistible delicacies to try are gobi ameenabadi (mildly spiced wok tossed cauliflower), langarwali daal, patrani machi and mutton burra kebab. From Delhi, foodies can enjoy Kuliya Chaat from old Delhi, chhole bhature and crispy jalebi with rabdi. Going further you have traditional Awadhi cuisine from Allahabad which includes succulent galouti kebabs and their vegetarian version, suran ki galouti, skewered by Masterchef Bapon. Some other must-tries from the region include a royal, culinary heritage include Zaffrani paneer tikka, machi begam bahar (mildly-spiced slow-cooked fish with caramelised onion and cashew nuts) and Awadhi biryani, a dish brought to India by Persian travellers and merchants. “There is a misconception that Bengali cuisine is largely meat eaters' delight. Kolkata is also known for its hearty vegetarian specials,” says chef Surjit, who prepares begun bhaja. Surjit has also prepared bhapa paneer (paneer, flavoured with mustard, coconut and green chillies and steamed in pumpkin leaves), and patishapta (a decadent rice-flour crepe filled with coconut, khoya and jaggery). Seafood lovers can relish katla macher kaliya and Chingri malai curry. Meat lovers can enjoy mejbani mangsho, Chicken chaap and murg rezala and end the meal with muktogachar monda and rasogolla or mishti doi. Furthermore to entice the guests there will be cultural performances during the festival representing the cultures of the regions the G T Road is passing through. The festival is open to public till 6 October 2021.

Heard of anything which is crispy, fried and healthy at the same time? Yes, this is not a joke. Cooking in an air fryer is a game changer. Here's a look at some of the recipes that you can prepare with little or no oil. Pakoras Ingredients Diced onions, potatoes and cauliflower (1 cup each) Chopped spinach leaves (1/2 cup) Grated ginger (1 spoon) Chickpea flour (1 cup) Water (1 cup) Oil (in a spray bottle) Salt (3/4 spoon) Chilly powder (a pinch) Carom seeds (1 spoon) Method Step 1: Preheat your air fryer to 180 degree Celsius for 10 minutes. Step 2: Take a bowl. Add all the vegetables, carom seeds, chickpea flour, salt, chilly powder into the bowl. Transfer the chickpea flour into the bowl. Add the relevant amount of water to the mix. Step 3: Take parchment paper and add small holes to it. Step 4: Once your air fryer is pre-heated, carefully add the parchment paper into the basket and spoon the mix on it without touching the corners of the air fryer. Step 5: Spray oil on the fritters using an oil spray. Step 6: Cook for 8 minutes on each side and pierce a toothpick into them to check if they have cooked properly. Step 7: Transfer the cooked pakoras on a tissue and enjoy. Apple cinnamon cupcake Ingredients Chopped and pealed apples (2 small ones) Cinnamon powder (2 teaspoons) Brown sugar (1 cup) Lemon juice (1/2 teaspoon) Softened butter (3 teaspoons) All purpose flour (1 1/2 cup) Eggs (2) Vanilla extract (1/2 teaspoon) Milk (4 teaspoon) Baking powder (1 1/2 teaspoon) Baking soda (a pinch) Silicon cups (for baking) Method Step 1: Preheat air fryer to 200 degree Celsius for 12 minutes. Step 2: In a bowl, add apples, lemon juice, cinnamon powder and sugar and mix them together. Set it aside. Step 3: In another bowl, whisk melted butter, vanilla extract, eggs and milk. Sieve all purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda into the whisked batter. Step 4: Mix all the ingredients together using a spatula and make sure there are no lumps. Step 5: Transfer the bowl containing apples, lemon juice and sugar in the batter and mix them well. Step 6: Line cupcakes with some butter. Step 7: Once the air fryer is heated, pour the mixture in the silicon cups and fill them 3/4th. Step 8: Place the cups into the basket and air fry them for another 10 minutes. Step 9: Check if the cupcakes are ready to eat using a toothpick. Take them out on a tray and keep them for another 2-3 minutes. Scoop them out carefully and enjoy. Crispy vegetables Ingredients Diced pumpkin, zucchini and cauliflower (1 cup each) Baby carrots (1 cup) Chopped mushroom (1 cup) Diced onions (1 cup) Diced red pepper (1/2 cup) Diced green pepper (1/2 cup) Salt (as per taste) Pepper (1/4 teaspoon) Method Step 1: Preheat air fryer for 10 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Step 2: Rub oil on your palms and coat it on the vegetables. Step 3: Season them with salt and pepper. Step 4: Transfer vegetables to the fryer basket. Step 5: Air fry them for another 10 minutes, stirring them after five minutes. Chicken (or paneer) tikka masala Ingredients Boneless chicken (or paneer) diced (500 grams) Hung curd (3 cups) Salt as per the taste Grounded pepper (2 spoons) Turmeric (2 spoon) Chilly powder (a pinch) Diced green pepper (1 cup) Diced red pepper (1 cup) Diced onion (1 cup) Tomato (1 cup) Grated ginger garlic (2 spoons) Grated garlic (1 spoon) Skewers (dipped in water) Method Step 1: In a bowl, mix all the ingredients and set them aside for at least an hour in the refrigerator to marinate. Make sure all the ingredients are coated evenly to infuse their flavours together. Step 2: After an hour, put chicken (or paneer) pieces and vegetables on skewers in such a way that all ingredients fit on the skewers. Step 3: Preheat your air fryer for 10 minutes at 200 degree Celsius. Step 4: Add the skewers carefully on air fryer's based and cook them at the same temperature for another 15 minutes by tossing them after 7 minutes. Step 5: Carefully pull out the skewers with tongs and enjoy! Corn on the cob Ingredients Peeled corn (one) Salt (as per taste) Olive oil (one teaspoon) Butter (optional) Method Step 1: Preheat air fryer to 180 degree Celsius for 7 minutes Step 2: Take olive oil on your palms and rub it on the corn's surface. Step 3: Add salt and pepper to it. Step 4: Break corn into two pieces to fit it in the basket. Step 5: Air fry it for another 7 minutes flipping it midway. Make sure that corn kernels are light brown. Step 6: Add butter, if needed. Poori Ingredients Wheat flour (1 cup) Oil (1 tablespoon) Salt (1/2 teaspoon) Water (1/4 cup) Salt (as per your taste) Warm water (as needed to knead the dough) Method Step 1: Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Add water and knead it into a dough. Make sure that the dough is soft. Step 2: Add oil to the dough and let it rest for 10 minutes. Step 3: Preheat your air fryer for seven minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Step 4: Divide the dough into small balls and roll them into rotis. Make sure that their surface is not too thin. Step 5: Add holes to parchment paper and place it in air fryer's basket. Step 6: Place rotis on the parchment paper. Make sure that they don't overlap each other. It will ensure even cooking. Step 7: Cook them for 3 minutes or until the bubbles appear on their surface. Flip them over and cook for another two minutes. Step 8: Once the pooris start puffing, transfer them to a plate and enjoy. Crispy gobi Ingredients Diced cauliflower (500 grams) All purpose flour Corn flour (2 tablespoon) Crushed black pepper (1/2 teaspoon) Red chilly powder (1/2 teaspoon) Soya sauce (1 teaspoon) Salt (as per taste) Ginger garlic paste (1 teaspoon) Water (as required) Silicon brush Method Step 1: Add warm water to cauliflower and keep it aside for 15 minutes. Step 2: In a bowl, add all purpose flour, corn flour, crushed black pepper, chilly powder, salt, ginger garlic paste, and soya sauce. Mix them well. Step 3: Add water to the bowl to prepare a thick batter. Step 4: Transfer the soaked cauliflower on a plate and let it dry. Sprinkle some all purpose flour on cauliflower to let the former soak the remaining moisture. Step 5: Add cauliflower to the batter and coat each piece with the batter. Step 6: Let it rest for 15 minutes. Step 7: Set the air fryer on 180 degree Celsius for 12 minutes. Step 8: Transfer cauliflower pieces from the bowl into air fryer's basket using a spoon. Do not overlap the pieces. Step 9: After 12 minutes, check the pieces and coat oil on them using a silicon brush. Step 10: Let it cook for another 5 minutes at 180 degree Celsius. Transfer the cooked vegetable to a plate and enjoy it as a snack or a main dish.

Pavan C. Lall's book is set to be adapted as a multi-season series. Abundantia Entertainment has acquired the rights of Pavan C. Lall’s captivating book, Flawed: The Rise and Fall of India's Diamond Mogul Nirav Modi, which it will adapt into a dramatised, multi-season series for streaming. The book depicts the story of high-profile tycoon Nirav Modi, one of in India. It is based on personal encounters, incisive interviews and meticulous researches conducted by the author. Lall, who also worked as an investigative journalist will also serve as a consultant writer for the series. It narrates detailed and fascinating aspects of the rise and fall of the diamond merchant, unravelling the persona of the man behind one of the biggest financial scandals in India. While sharing the news, Lall said, “It is an extremely exciting opportunity, and I am thrilled to be a part of this book-to-screen adaptation journey. Capturing the sensibility of a book in a cinematic way is not a simple task but I have full faith in Abundantia Entertainment and believe that they will do complete justice to this endeavour and give Flawed the appropriate visual mounting. The book is my effort to bring to the audience the tale of a larger-than-life entrepreneur - his spectacular rise and equally dramatic fall which brought an entire industry to its knees.” Abundantia Entertainment has previously produced several entertaining and impactful films, such as Sherni, Shakuntala Devi, Toilet - Ek Prem Katha and Airlift, as well as original series, such as Breathe and Breathe: Into The Shadows.